Last day in KY
Dec 17, 2010 14:58:54 GMT -5
Post by tasaman on Dec 17, 2010 14:58:54 GMT -5
So I took my son out on his first real deer hunt on Black Friday, 2010. James is 6 and has went with me on other occasions but we never saw anything on those days. This hunt I knew we would see something as I hunted there the previous week and had them somewhat patterned. We were only going for an afternoon hunt as it was pretty cold that day and I knew he wouldn't be happy with an all day hunt. So we get there to the location and there is one other truck there. I had my heart set on hunting a field with my little buddy since I didn't have any double ladders to put him in with me. So we take a chance and go to one of the fields to see if it was open.
We snuck to the edge of the woods right before the field and there is no orange tree ornaments so we are good to go. I can see two deer already in the field. I have James go up ahead of me to see if we can put a sneak on them. Well it sort of worked. The adult doe didn't like the situation and she left. The young deer stayed and we called that a kill since we were 75 yards away. I asked James if he wanted me to shoot that one or wait for a buck. He said wait so we let that one go.
About 30 minutes after getting set up in a blind we had a 3 pt buck walk by us at no more than 15 yards and I think it was closer to 15 ft. Now the boy is stoked. Another doe popped out down the field and walked strait across and down a mowed trail going back toward the road. He has seen 4 deer and is ready for a bigger buck to come out.
About 15 minutes had passed since the last deer was in the field. I looked at the end of the field where it narrows down to about 20 yards wide and saw a deer...with antlers! This area has a 15" minimum for bucks so you have to watch real close to make sure he's legal. I have James watch him through the binos and let me know what he thinks. Buck lifted his head and looked our way down the field and I could plainly see he was far enough outside his ears. James gave me the go ahead to shoot. I settled the 25/06 on him and squeezed of the round. The buck bolted for the woods and I immediately knew it was a good hit.
We hurried out of the blind since darkness was only about 15 minutes away. We got to where the buck was standing and no blood. Uh oh I was thinking. I hate tracking a deer that won't bleed. Luckily I walked right up on it about 50 yards into the woods. Strait down the trail he went and fell over right on the side. I let my boy run up and grab the antlers and look him over for a minute. I grabbed ahold of him anstarted to drag him to the field and boy this little guy is heavy.
It's a really long way back to the truck and I took all the gear back to the truck and got my cart. Got back field dressed him and loaded him on the cart to make the second trip back to the truck which is about 700 yard trip. Loaded the deer up and go in the truck to drive home and I realized I left my glasses out there. So, back we go to the kill spot. Get the glasses and we are ready for the 3 hour trip home.
I think we hunted about 2 hours that day but we left the house at 1 pm and got home at 10 pm. It was a long day to be sure. One I will never forget because my buddy now wants me to take him on the youth hunt in January. You can bet I will.
Here is a pic of the buck. He's a 7 because there is no brow tine on one side. I'm about 260 so I figure the deer is about 160 or so. Real big young deer for our area in KY.
We snuck to the edge of the woods right before the field and there is no orange tree ornaments so we are good to go. I can see two deer already in the field. I have James go up ahead of me to see if we can put a sneak on them. Well it sort of worked. The adult doe didn't like the situation and she left. The young deer stayed and we called that a kill since we were 75 yards away. I asked James if he wanted me to shoot that one or wait for a buck. He said wait so we let that one go.
About 30 minutes after getting set up in a blind we had a 3 pt buck walk by us at no more than 15 yards and I think it was closer to 15 ft. Now the boy is stoked. Another doe popped out down the field and walked strait across and down a mowed trail going back toward the road. He has seen 4 deer and is ready for a bigger buck to come out.
About 15 minutes had passed since the last deer was in the field. I looked at the end of the field where it narrows down to about 20 yards wide and saw a deer...with antlers! This area has a 15" minimum for bucks so you have to watch real close to make sure he's legal. I have James watch him through the binos and let me know what he thinks. Buck lifted his head and looked our way down the field and I could plainly see he was far enough outside his ears. James gave me the go ahead to shoot. I settled the 25/06 on him and squeezed of the round. The buck bolted for the woods and I immediately knew it was a good hit.
We hurried out of the blind since darkness was only about 15 minutes away. We got to where the buck was standing and no blood. Uh oh I was thinking. I hate tracking a deer that won't bleed. Luckily I walked right up on it about 50 yards into the woods. Strait down the trail he went and fell over right on the side. I let my boy run up and grab the antlers and look him over for a minute. I grabbed ahold of him anstarted to drag him to the field and boy this little guy is heavy.
It's a really long way back to the truck and I took all the gear back to the truck and got my cart. Got back field dressed him and loaded him on the cart to make the second trip back to the truck which is about 700 yard trip. Loaded the deer up and go in the truck to drive home and I realized I left my glasses out there. So, back we go to the kill spot. Get the glasses and we are ready for the 3 hour trip home.
I think we hunted about 2 hours that day but we left the house at 1 pm and got home at 10 pm. It was a long day to be sure. One I will never forget because my buddy now wants me to take him on the youth hunt in January. You can bet I will.
Here is a pic of the buck. He's a 7 because there is no brow tine on one side. I'm about 260 so I figure the deer is about 160 or so. Real big young deer for our area in KY.
